


Letters of Note - A Coats & Customs Interlude

by imaginary_golux



Series: Coats and Customs 'verse [4]
Category: The Hobbit - All Media Types, The Lord of the Rings - All Media Types
Genre: Epistolary, M/M, Slow Build
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-26
Updated: 2013-05-11
Packaged: 2017-12-09 13:34:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 16
Words: 15,236
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/774790
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/imaginary_golux/pseuds/imaginary_golux
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Gimli and Legolas start writing to each other after the Quest, as friends do.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> At the beginning of each letter is a date, month and year; I am using the Shire's reckoning system for Gimli's letters, since Belegost has adopted that calendar in order to make communication with the Shire easier, and for Legolas I am using the King's Reckoning which is in Sindarin.
> 
> English Sindarin Hobbit  
> January Narvinye Afteryule  
> February Nenime Solmath  
> March Sulime Rethe  
> April Viresse Astron  
> May Lotesse Thrimidge  
> June Narie Forelithe  
> July Cermie Afterlithe  
> August Urime Wedmath  
> September Yavannie Halimath  
> October Narquelie Winterfilth  
> November Hisime Blotmath  
> December Ringare Foreyule

Halimath 2950

Prince Legolas,

My father is vastly unnerved that I am writing to you. I think he hoped we were merely friends by proximity, and the dangers of the Quest.

Gamli wants to tell you hello, and also that he likes your hair. I hope it has recovered from him biting it so much at the wedding. Sorry about that. Prince Bilbo also says hello, and that if you are willing to send us word of political machinations in the Greenwood and Erebor he’d be grateful. If you don’t want to, that’s fine too.

I have been mining with my father, and also working in the forges. Last week we found a new vein which looks promising for emeralds, and I am eager to learn to work with them. I remember you told me the leaves in the Greenwood were greener than emeralds, so I will have to send you one of the ones I find so you can compare. I am sure my emerald will be greener.

Princess Mim gave birth to a fine healthy baby boy, and has named him Thrain after King Thorin’s father. Lady Dis is very proud and happy, and Prince Fili looks about to burst from joy. Even King Thorin goes and coos at the baby, which is rather disturbing.

Prince Bilbo says that when I have worked with my father for a while so that he forgives me for running off like that, I can start training with Dwalin to be Prince Bilbo’s bodyguard properly. I am looking forward to it, but I am a little worried because Dwalin is a very hard taskmaster. On the other hand, we survived Mordor: how much harder can weapons-training be?

I hope you are well and your forest is pleasant. I can’t imagine how pleasant a forest could be, but still.

Your friend,

Gimli son of Gloin

*  
   
 _Hisime 2950_

_Dear Gimli,_

_My father is also very dismayed by our continuing friendship. I have told him that you are a confidant of Prince Bilbo of Belegost and that this is a useful political alliance, but I do not think he believes me. Tell Prince Bilbo that I will be glad to send along any interesting information, but as King Frerin is as fond of elves as his grandfather, we do not hear much at all._

_The Autumn Festival is coming up, and I will sadly not be dancing in the procession because I have been gone so long and am out of practice. I will be entering the archery contests, however, and there is a new blindfolded contest because of the stories about the battle with the Spider in the tunnel. I have high hopes for my place in the contest._

_The spiders of the Greenwood have had a resurgence, which is very irksome to us, and I have gone with several of the sorties to exterminate them; sadly, they hide so well and are so terribly clever that each time we go out, we find more of them in places where we were quite sure they were gone! Thankfully, no one has been seriously injured by the creatures, and after the Autumn Festival we plan to go out in great force and scour the forests clean of them._

_Tell Gamli hello for me. My hair has quite recovered from his enthusiasm. Apparently an affinity for elvish hair runs in the family!_

_I look forward to comparing the emeralds of Belegost to the leaves of the Greenwood, though I fully expect that my forest will prove greener than your stones._

_I hope your tunnels are all that tunnels can be._

_Your friend,_

_Legolas of the Greenwood_  
 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Much to their parents' dismay, these letters are becoming a habit.

Rethe 2951

Dear Legolas,

Please find enclosed the first emerald which I mined without aid from my father. I am sure it will outshine your forest!

I have been allowed to join the guard, and am training under Dwalin son of Fundin three days a week. Dwalin is a hard taskmaster and goes harder on me because I have already been in battle. I enjoy training a lot; swinging a pick is all well and good, but there’s nothing quite like an axe! Dwalin promises that when I have finished my training, I will be assigned as part of Prince Bilbo’s permanent bodyguard. My parents are very proud, although since Prince Bilbo does not leave Belegost very often, it is not a terribly hard posting.

Last night there was a great feast in honor of Thrain son of Fili, who has lived for six months and is expected to grow to adulthood. The hobbits outdid themselves – I think they roasted ten whole oxen! Gaffer Gamgee, who looks after Prince Bilbo’s house in the Shire, brought in several kegs of his homemade moonshine, which was much stronger than anyone expected. Dwalin tried to do a jig, and nearly fell over onto Dori’s wife Peony, and Ori, our chief scribe, had to take Dwalin off to bed. It was very funny.

I am sorry I have not written much, but my father has kept me very busy in the mines and also weapons training is very time-consuming and I often fall asleep as soon as I get home. Then Gamli comes and draws on my face with ashes from the fire, which are terribly hard to get out of my beard. Perhaps I will send him to you, and he can play with your hair instead.

How did the Autumn Festival contests go? I am sure you won, of course, but tell me of those who came in second place. And the scouring of your forests – are they now clean of spiders?

Your friend,

Gimli son of Gloin  
 

_Lotesse 2951_

_Dear Gimli,_

_I have held your emerald up to all the new leaves upon the trees, and I regret to tell you that though it is much greener and more vibrant than the leaves of the elm trees, it is not nearly so green as the leaves of the oak trees. It is nevertheless a beautiful stone and I cherish it._

_I have great trouble imagining Dwalin son of Fundin dancing a jig – he is the fellow with the tattoos all over his head, is he not? He does not look as though he dances at all. How ever did Chief Scribe Ori end up having to care for him? It does not seem fair to make a scribe carry the chief guardsman to bed._

_I thank you for your confidence in me; I did, indeed, take first prize in many of the archery contests, including the blind shooting. My comrades of the spider-patrol took many of the other prizes, for we have had a great deal of practice against moving targets and in the heat of battle, which provides an edge which all the standing targets in the world cannot contribute._

_In the midwinter we went hunting the spiders, several hundred of us all told, and my honored father gave me command of the venture. We found the copses where the spiders had been hiding: they strung the trees with their webs to make high walls, which captured anything within reach, and hid within their strange fortresses. It was a bloody and unpleasant business, I assure you, for we stood back-to-back and hacked away at webs and spiders alike until their black blood covered the ground and our blades were fouled with their webs. Yet we destroyed them, and their nests and their eggs, and we have great hopes that there will be no more of the foul creatures in our forests for many years._

_I am imagining you with a child’s drawings upon your face and beard, and confess that I find the image greatly amusing. Perhaps you might dye your beard black until Gamli has outgrown this habit, and thus render the ashes invisible?_

_I hope your training goes well and you are soon elevated to the ranks of Prince Bilbo’s bodyguard – and after all, if he leaves Belegost only rarely, he goes on great adventures when he does!_

_I remain as ever,_

_Your friend,_

_Legolas_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm basing the hobbit booze off of keelywolfe's marvelous moonshine in The Road Delivered Us Home, which manages to knock Dwalin clear off his feet. Now that's a potent potable!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yep, definitely a habit.

Afterlithe 2951

Dear Legolas,

Dye my beard! I would as soon turn your fair hair as black as a midwinter night. No, I shall simply have to take care to fall asleep in my own bed and not upon the hearth where Gamli can reach me. He shows a great talent for drawing, and my parents hope he might have potential to be a scribe if he does not choose to become a miner.

Alas that my emerald has not outshone your forest – or at least not all of it. I shall find a better!

Ori brought Dwalin off to bed because they are married, of course. It was a great romance at the time, and Dwalin practically had to fight off Ori’s elder brothers. I was rather too young to care about such things, but I remember my mother and Lady Dis sighing about it, and complaining that the menfolk needed to stop pining and simply tell each other of their feelings.

I am glad your campaign against the spiders went well; they sound horrid, and I have had quite enough of giant spiders for one life – and I did not even fight against the dreadful creature! Lady Dis, whom I told of your campaign, said that she hopes that none of them were as large or as hard to kill as the one in the tunnel, and that it was lighter out in the Greenwood than it was then.

Prince Bilbo speaks only occasionally of his adventures, and then he is so visibly unhappy that no one asks him many questions. I think he is much happier at home in Belegost, and certainly he and King Thorin are never seen far from each other except when King Thorin is in the forges: Prince Bilbo’s bare feet would suffer horribly from the sparks, and no one wants that to happen.

Prince Bilbo has built a little grave on the side of the mountain, down near the Shire, and says it is for the remembrance of the creature he killed within Mount Doom, which loved the Ring and died for it. I think that any creature which tried to kill Prince Bilbo _deserved_ to die, but he is not a warrior at heart and does not like to kill. He does practice with the guards at least once a week, however, now that he is fully healed from the spider’s venom, and he is very quick on his feet.

Actually, all of the hobbits are fast and quiet as we dwarves cannot hope to be. I rather think that hobbits are stealthier even than elves, and would be very dangerous skirmishers and scouts if they were so inclined. Some of the younger ones help out with the garrisons down near Bree, but most of the hobbits do not want anything to do with war or weapons, and are only too happy to feed us in return for our taking on all the warlike matters. I do not understand them, but I suppose it is just as well they feel that way, because otherwise we would not have Belegost.

Are there Spring and Summer Festivals as well as the Autumn ones, in your Greenwood?

I apologize for the black fingerprints on the page – Gamli has gotten into the ashes again. I shall send this out before he can attempt to eat it.

Your friend always,

Gimli

 

_Yavannie 2951_

_Dear Gimli,_

_It has been a year since we began to write! I think my honored father thought we would tire of our friendship by this point, as he gives me very odd looks every time one of the trading caravans hands over a letter for me from Belegost. I am glad to continue to prove him wrong._

_Ori and Dwalin are married? I would never have thought of putting the two of them together; Ori seems such a gentle and scholarly fellow and Dwalin is so rough and blunt-spoken. Still, as long as they are happy together, all is well; and there is the old saying that opposites attract, is there not? I am not sure anyone expected Prince Bilbo and King Thorin to get on as well as they do, either, and yet they are known across Middle-Earth as being deeply in love with each other._

_Tell Lady Dis that it was daylight when we fought the spiders, and they were nowhere near as large as the one we killed in the tunnel. I thank her also for her kind words and for thinking of me._

_Prince Bilbo is a gentle soul, I think. Not everyone is meant for war; among the elves, there are those who take up the sword or the bow, and there are those who simply cannot. It is not in their bones to be warriors, and in times of great danger we protect these gentler souls as we do our children. Bilbo is strange to me, therefore: he is one of those who ought to be protected, to be kept safe because war is not their place, and yet he fights as well as any warrior might be expected to do, and his courage is many times the size of his body._

_I would like to come to the Shire and meet the hobbits again; I did not get to speak with many while I was there for Kili and Primrose’s wedding. They seemed a marvelous people, and what you tell me inflames my curiosity more. Would King Thorin object terribly to an elvish guest? If so, I could certainly stay in Rivendell with Lord Elrond, but that is farther from the Shire._

_We do have Spring and Summer Festivals, but they are meant more for children, actually. The dawn of the year and the warm days of summer are easy to celebrate, and we give our children sweets and toys and bring them dancing through the Greenwood. Autumn is a time of great plenty, and yet the dark days of winter lie just ahead. It is a festival for adults, for those who comprehend death._

_On years when we are not out killing spiders, there is often a Winter celebration as well – though that is more accurately called a remembrance. We spend the midwinter night recalling those who have died or gone West during the year. Thankfully, this year there were none who left our halls either to death or to the Grey Havens, and so we spent Midwinter Day hunting spiders._

_What sort of festivals do dwarves have, besides six-month celebrations for their children?_

_Your friend,_

_Legolas_


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Good news from Belegost.

Blotmath 2951

Dear Legolas,

Prince Bilbo sends his apologies and says that an elvish guest would probably drive King Thorin quite mad, but that if you are willing to put up with the low ceilings, he would be happy to let you spend some time in Bag End, which is his house in the Shire. He also says he would let me come and show you around if you liked!

Dwarves don’t have many festivals, really. We have Durin’s Day, which is our new year, and we celebrate six-month days and coming-of-age days, and the day you get your journeyman’s or master’s certificate or earn your place in the guards. Really the only kingdom-wide celebration is Durin’s Day, though, or at least the only one which happens every year.

Which reminds me: we are all very excited because Primrose is pregnant! She only announced it a few days ago, and Kili has been going around like he just found a new Arkenstone. Lady Dis keeps grinning; it’s very disturbing.

What do you mean when you say that elves go West and are mourned by their kin? From the way you speak of it, you do not mean that they die; but what is there to the West that summons elves?

I confess I had never thought of King Thorin and Prince Bilbo’s marriage as being anything but exactly how it ought to be. I remember our journey from Erebor to the Shire – I am sure you also remember it – and even then they were very good to each other. But then again I have never thought much on the matter – I was younger then, and the whole journey was an adventure, and Prince Bilbo had the best stories I had ever heard.

I have grown better with the axe under Dwalin’s tutelage – he says I have some talent with both the throwing and the cleaving axe, which is unusual and my father is very proud of me. I have also been spending a great deal of time in the forge with the artisans, in the hope that I will find a way to set Lady Galadriel’s hair which is appropriate to its beauty. So far all of our ideas have involved too much heat and would have burnt up the hair, so I have been using some of mine to test it – Gamli says I am beginning to look piebald!

I do hope you come to visit. I would be glad to see you again – letters are all well and good, but I have missed sitting beside you in the evening and speaking of whatever came to mind. All of the dwarves of my own age are still too young to have left Belegost other than the trip from Erebor – really my parents would never have let me go with Prince Bilbo if I’d asked – and while Lady Dis and Prince Bilbo and Fili and Kili and Mim and Primrose are very nice, it seems so awkward to go on up to the royal apartments just to talk!

I hope your Midwinter Remembrance is everything it ought to be.

Your friend,

Gimli

   
 _Narvinye 2952_

_Dear Gimli,_

_Well, it has taken me a great deal of very fast talking, but my father has agreed to let me come to the Shire in the spring! I should arrive in Viresse or Lotesse sometime – I will send word ahead, of course. I would be more than honored to take Prince Bilbo up on his offer of Bag End, and I am sure I will not mind the low ceilings a whit. I do hope you will be able to come and show me the Shire, even if I am not welcome in Belegost; hobbits are not well-known in the Greenwood, and I am eager to learn as much as I can!_

_I also look forward to many evenings sitting beside you in the twilight, my friend. It is strange to have such sweet memories from such a terrible quest, but life often brings the sweet within the bitter, I have found. That is one of the reasons for the Midwinter Remembrance, after all._

_I must ask that you not mention to any other elves what I am about to tell you – it is not precisely a secret, but I am not sure they would be pleased that a dwarf had learned it. When an elf has been grievously wounded, in mind or body, or has become so weary of life and turmoil that he or she can no longer bear this world, then that elf will go West, to the Grey Havens, and from there take ship to Valinor across the sea, where no Man may ever set foot. There they may live for all time in peace, as it was meant to be._

_On a more cheerful topic – if you have grown more skilled with your axes, you must now be formidable indeed, for you were by no means untalented during our quest! Which reminds me to ask you to give Primrose my congratulations on her pregnancy; I am sure she will be a good mother. Your image of Kili’s joy is quite amusing; but both dwarves and elves cherish children, and I cannot fault him for being happy._

_Surely you could use horsehair or thread for your experiments? I would hate to think of your fine beard being denuded for any reason._

_There are few elves of my age in the Greenwood. I have not yet seen seven hundred years – there are those who still account me a child. Lady Arwen, who journeyed with us, is more than twice my age, and she too is young among our kind. It is a strange world, is it not, which has both elves and Men in it, and where one so young as Gilraen might give advice to Arwen Evenstar?_

_I shall write again ere I come to the Shire. I am eager to see you again._

_Your friend,_

_Legolas_


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hurrah, a visit!

Rethe 2952

Dear Legolas,

I cannot tell you how happy I am to hear you will be coming to the Shire! Prince Bilbo says that he will be more than glad to release me from any and all duties while you are here so that I can be a sort of guide. He has also promised to ask Hamfast Gamgee, who looks after Bag End for him, to show both of us around a little; there are still some things about hobbits which I do not understand! I am still working on convincing my father that I have not gone mad, but I am sure everything will be fine by the time you get here.

I promise never to speak of the secrets you told me in your last letter, neither to dwarves nor hobbits nor men nor elves nor dwobbits; and I thank you for your trust in me, my friend.

I have given Primrose your congratulations, and she asks me to tell you that she remembers you fondly and will be glad to let you meet the child if you are still in the Shire when she gives birth. She and Kili have not decided on names yet, and it is very funny to listen to everyone give them ideas. The Lady Dis is keeping a list! Some of the suggestions are very silly. Of course everyone knew that Mim’s first child would be named after Thrain, so they are giving all of their suggestions for this one.

I will start using horsehair as you suggest – it is a good thought, and since we keep the ponies’ manes and tails cropped short, I am sure the stablemaster will let me use the clippings. But you must never tell the Lady Galadriel that I used horsehair to practice for hers! I am sure that would be insulting.

I hope your journey across the mountains is easy and pleasant, and please give my regards to Lord Elrond if you stop in Rivendell before you come to the Shire. When you get to the Shire, ask at the guard garrison and they will send word to Belegost, and give you a guide to Bag End – that has all been arranged by Prince Bilbo already.

I look forward to seeing you again, my friend. Perhaps I will have made some progress with my smithing, and will be able to show you my work! I do know that Ori would like to speak to you at some point, since there are very few texts on elves in the library, and I am sure Lady Dis will be glad to see you also.

In eager anticipation I remain,

Your friend,

Gimli

   
 _Viresse 2952_

_Dear Gimli,_

_I should be at the Shire only a little behind this letter, but I wished to write and give you a little warning in any case. I will be stopping briefly at Rivendell to see Lord Elrond and Lady Arwen and Gilraen and Estel, but I will remain there a week at most – then it is off to the Shire with me!_

_I can hardly wait to see you._

_Until then, I remain,_

_Your friend,_

_Legolas_

 

(delivered by the mirror-tower staff)

TO: GIMLI SON OF GLOIN

ELF PRINCE ARRIVED GARRISON TODAY STOP HAS ESCORT TO BAG END STOP SENDS REGARDS TO PRINCE BILBO STOP

 

(found on the dining room table in Bag End)

Dear Legolas:

If I am not here when you arrive I will be there within a day or two; my father may have delayed me. Hamfast Gamgee and his wife Bell will take care of meals and cleaning Bag End while you are there; Prince Bilbo has arranged it. The library is down the hall to your right, and the bedroom with a long bed in it is the first blue door on the left.

Watch your head!

See you soon,

Gimli

 

(hand-delivered to Bilbo Baggins)  
 _Prince Consort Bilbo,_

_I must thank you for your wonderful hospitality these last four months; Bag End is a delightful home and I greatly enjoyed my stay. I must thank you also for releasing Gimli from his duties so he could spend time guiding me around. The Shire is a marvelous place and hobbits a wonderful people. I must congratulate Gaffer Gamgee especially on his homemade ale, and his wife on her absolutely delicious cooking. I have taken the liberty of leaving a gift for them on the table in Bag End; I hope you will convince them to accept it._

_All my gratitude,_

_Prince Legolas of the Greenwood_


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A successful trip, indeed.

_Hisime 2952_

_Dear Gimli,_

_I am home safely. The Greenwood is orange and red with the autumn, and my father and friends have received me gladly, but I cannot help but think of the bench behind Bag End, too short though it may be, and watching the fireflies emerge in the evening with you beside me._

_How is Primrose’s Billin doing? I have never seen such a tiny child before in my life; elven babies are rather larger, of course, since we are larger than dwarves and hobbits, and in any case I have never seen an infant before. Such a large noise from such a tiny creature, too! And his little curly head of hair! Quite an astonishing creature all around._

_I am looking forward eagerly to the Midwinter Festival. You know of course that I brought a keg of Gaffer Gamgee’s moonshine home with me: I am planning to offer free drinks to the winners of any and all of the contests. I have high hopes for the results! I also hope to convince my father to try it…wish me luck, my friend!_

_What a beautiful land the Shire is. So different both from my own Greenwood and your tunnels in the mountains; all rolling green hills and small happy people. How on earth do they manage seven meals a day? Where does it all fit? Bell Gamgee insisted that I must be starving, I ate so little – and I ate better in the Shire than I have in all my years in the Greenwood, I think. I regret that she would give me none of her recipes._

_There was a great pleasure in walking beside you without the urgency of our Quest, my friend. Simply wandering the Shire together, walking dawn to dusk without the threat of orcs and worse behind and before us, with no need to watch warily in every direction…I have rarely been so at ease in any place and any company, for even at its most peaceful the Greenwood has its threats and dangers, and among my people it is hard sometimes to put aside my rank and my youth and simply be friends._

_I learned much these last months, about the Shire and about hobbits, of course – what a marvelous people! – and about the dwarves of Belegost, and I thank you for the lessons. But I think I also learned much of myself, of who I am without my father or my Greenwood or the pressures of a great Quest, but with only the company of a good friend and a wide and peaceful country. For those lessons, too, I owe you a great debt, Gimli, for I think that they are quite without price._

_I miss your company already, my friend. Write soon!_

_Your friend,_

_Legolas_  
 

Afteryule 2953

Dear Legolas,

I am glad to hear you reached the Greenwood safely. You must write and tell me about the moonshine at the festival! If it can make Dwalin dance a jig and you sing bawdy songs in Sindarin (I didn’t even know elves _had_ bawdy songs, and I also did not know Prince Bilbo could blush that badly, it was hilarious), what can it do to a whole crowd of elves?

Also could you send me the translations of some of those songs? Gaffer Gamgee is curious. Bell says that she won’t send you any recipes, though she’d love to feed you some more. Actually, she said, “The poor underfed creature is always welcome at my table! Are all elves so scrawny?” But that’s hobbits for you. They’re still convinced we’re starving all the hobbits who’ve moved to Belegost – we only serve four meals a day instead of the proper seven, after all!

…Yeah, I have no idea how it all fits either. It’s a little terrifying. And they can drink that moonshine till morning and never flinch, too.

Billin is doing well and has had his six-month celebration. Primrose says to tell you she’s sorry you missed it! Prince Bilbo has almost stopped complaining about being Billin’s namesake, although he still looks horridly uncomfortable anytime someone calls him a hero.

Dwalin has apparently decided that since I got four months off to spend with you, he needs to have me make up for all four months as soon as possible. I didn’t think he could work me any harder than he already was, but that shows what little _I_ know. Some days I can hardly walk home, my legs are so sore. He has me running the stairs, all the way to the top of Belegost and back down again. Dwarves are not meant to run stairs.

Gamli sends his greetings. I quote, “Hi hi hi Leg’las pretty hair!” I guess it _does_ run in the family! Mother says to thank you for looking after Gamli with me. Father just grunts. He hasn’t quite gotten used to us being friends, yet. But that’s alright; Mother and Lady Dis and Prince Bilbo are all on our side, and Father never annoys Mother if he can help it. Dwalin says that I should watch Mother when she’s practicing, because she’s a wonderful fighter and very quick.

It is strange to think I may not see you again for years. It felt utterly normal to walk with you around the Shire, to spend the evenings talking with you. I do not think I ever have nor ever shall have a friend to compare to you.

I await your next letter eagerly.

Your friend,

Gimli


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Drunken elves, woo!

_Sulime 2953_

_Dear Gimli,_

_My father may never forgive me for bringing home Gaffer Gamgee’s moonshine. You see, I mentioned to him and to some of our prouder warriors that it had caused the dourest dwarf in Belegost to dance a jig, and myself to sing uncouth songs in front of the Prince of Belegost; and my father and the warriors all swore that this was because I was young and unused to potent liquor, and that the dwarf must have had a weak constitution._

_So my father and the warriors took the keg of moonshine for themselves, and each had several tall mugs of it – and you will recall that I only had two, my friend, before my propriety quite deserted me – and oh, Gimli, if only you had been there! For I tell you that the King my father, who has never in my life been less than utterly composed, broke down weeping at the beauty of a song; and the warriors, who are all old and wise and strong and dignified, began to brag of their past glories, and each boasted more highly than the last, and finally before the astonished eyes of the entire court they began to brawl! Ilirion cut some of Etariel’s hair off, so it is no longer all of a length, and many of them have black eyes and horrid bruises, and none of them will come out of their rooms for shame._

_My father was furious when he awoke the next morning – and also apparently had a terrible headache, like an orc dancing upon his head he said – and forbade anyone from ever bringing hobbit ale into the Greenwood again. So I hope Prince Bilbo does not plan to trade it to Dale or Erebor, because the trade caravans will be turned away at the edge of the wood!_

_Tell Gamli that I thank him for the compliment to my hair. He must be absolutely adorable – he was certainly cute enough when I was there!_

_I confess I have never had to run stairs; there are few enough of them in the Greenwood, even in the habited section, and my armsmaster was more focused on my archery and my agility than anything else. It sounds a most unpleasant pastime and I send you all my sympathy. I am sure when you have finished your training, however, you will be a match for any warrior in Middle-Earth, for between your own innate talent and Dwalin’s tender care, you cannot help but shine._

_It is very strange, my friend, and yet while I was in the Shire with you, though I missed my father and my friends, it was a distant ache, dulled ever by your presence and occasionally by Gaffer Gamgee’s ale. Yet here in the Greenwood, where I have friends and familiar places on every side, I find myself turning many times a day to speak to you, wishing that I might hear your opinion on one matter or another, or show you some beauteous sight, and I miss you far more sharply than ever I missed my home._

_Therefore I pray you to write soon and often, for I miss your presence as that of a limb and even to read your words upon paper is a balm upon that wound._

_Your friend ever,_

_Legolas_  
 

Thrimidge 2953

Dear Legolas,

I have never thought to see elven warriors brawling like drunken dwarves, and yet you tell me that Gaffer Gamgee’s good ale was enough to cause such a sight! Would that I had been there, for surely this wondrous sight will never be repeated again within my lifetime. I thank you for your description of it, and I shall be laughing at the thought of it for many years.

My news from Belegost is strange and wonderful, for this past month who should arrive at our doors but Lady Gilraen’s son, Estel, who had come to be fostered and trained by King Thorin and Prince Bilbo. Yet more amazing still, he came with news of his true name and heritage: he is Aragorn, son of Arathorn, of the line of Isildur, and by that blood true heir to the throne of Gondor! I do wonder how the Steward of Gondor will feel, when Aragorn comes to take back his crown, as indeed he intends to do; and Dwalin says that it is a great coup for Belegost to be friends with Aragorn when he is young, that he might remember us when he is a great king, in matters of trade routes and alliances and such. I have no head for such things, but Dwalin’s brother is the king’s closest advisor, and so I suppose he must hear great political talk over breakfast and dinner every day. Mahal save me from such a fate!

My other news, then, is of smaller import to all save me and mine: Dwalin has declared me fully trained, and enlisted me as the head of Prince Bilbo’s bodyguard! I answer only to Dwalin and Balin and the King and the Prince, and my father is ready to keel over from pride and joy, and my mother cannot stop patting my shoulder and beaming. Little Gamli does not quite understand why we are all so happy, but he goes toddling about and laughs at everything and the hobbits give him honey-cakes and ruffle his hair, so he is as happy as we are.

Yet even in the midst of this joy, there is a strange sadness upon me, for my great good friend Legolas was not here to see my joy and to share in it. I know the pain you speak of, my friend, for I too feel it: to sit with you in the gloaming beside Bag End was the most peaceful and pleasant thing in the world, and I miss your laughter and your talk of forests, though I understood bare one word in ten. I would show you the forges of Belegost, if King Thorin would only allow, would take you deep into the earth and show you the beauty of its caverns where the water and the stone have made such statues and filigree as the greatest artisans cannot replicate.

I find myself sometimes re-reading your old letters (I have kept them all, in a locked box so that Gamli cannot draw upon them or cast them by accident into the fire) and thinking anew on your words; and your friendship is of such great value to me that I cannot measure it.

Tell me, if you would, of your forests in the summer, when there are no spiders to threaten, and of the children’s festivals which you mentioned once. The Greenwood seems very far from Belegost, but your words can bring it closer, I am sure.

Your friend,

Gimli


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Surprise king of Gondor is surprising.

_Cermie 2953_

_Dear Gimli,  
Lady Gilraen’s son is the king of Gondor? That…actually explains quite a bit, come to think of it. And it makes very good sense for him to come to Belegost to learn how to rule, since dwarves and Men have a great deal more in common than Men and elves do. It is always jarring for us to deal with the Men of Dale, especially when one of them dies after what we would consider an appallingly short time – they are hardly children before they are old!_

_It is good to know that Gondor will have a King again, since the line of the Stewards has been broken, but it will be an enormous upheaval of all the alliances and treaties with Gondor. It is one thing to make an agreement with a Steward, who can be expected to want everything to stay the same so that he can say to his King, should that worthy arrive, ‘See, everything is as you left it, safe and well-kept,’ but a King might be expected to want to expand his lands, or to prove himself after long absence. Well, I am sure King Thorin and Prince Bilbo will dissuade Gilraen’s son from any such ideas; they are both sensible, and Prince Bilbo would be quite put out if any pupil of his became such a fool as to betray his allies or attack a peaceful neighbor._

_I pray you ask your Prince when Aragorn plans to take his throne, and whether I might tell my honored Father or the Men of Dale, for this is news of great import._

_Your father and mother are quite right to be proud of you, and I myself can hardly keep from beaming at everyone I see at the thought that you have been given such a high and much-desired post! My friend, I know that you will be a marvelous head of Prince Bilbo’s bodyguard, and this gives me great hope that should Prince Bilbo go traveling again – perhaps to the Greenwood? – you will be at his side. He could ask for no better or more loyal protector._

_You ask about summer in my forests, and I will describe it as well as I may. In the spring the trees wear their flowers as young maidens new to court wear jewels, each piled upon each until one can hardly see any individual flower for the whole marvelous mass, and then shed their flowers for leaves of the lightest green, far lighter than your emerald, which are as fragile as lace. Then in the summer the leaves darken, past the green of your emerald, and become so wide and numerous as to block out the sky, so that one walks in green-tinted shade beneath the trees. There are clearings here and there, where we often go to dine in the warm evenings, which are carpeted with flowers in every shade you can imagine, pink and blue and purple and yellow and white all clustered together in glorious clashing beauty._

_In the middle of summer, before autumn brings such stifling heat that we all remain indoors during the afternoon, or bathe in sheltered waters, we bring the young children (so many as there are, which is not many) out into the forest for our festival. There are games of skill, such as running with an egg balanced upon a spoon, or climbing a tall greased pole, and the child who wins each game gains a prize. Then we dance and feast late into the night, and the children are given small gifts to commemorate another year of life. It is great fun for the adults as well, for we need not be proper and composed as otherwise, but may laugh and run and dance with abandon._

_Someday you must come to one of the midsummer festivals._

_Until then, I remain,_

_Your friend,_

_Legolas_  
 

Halimath 2953

Dear Legolas,

It has been three years since we began writing! It is very hard for me to believe that we have only been friends for less than five full years; already it feels as if I have known you all my life. That you were here for part of last year makes it all the harder to think that I may not see you again for a long time.

To be honest, being head of Prince Bilbo’s bodyguard is not as impressive as it seems: there are only the three of us in it! The other two are Kes daughter of Bombur, who is absolutely wicked with a throwing axe and very quiet and smart; and Bifur son of Telchar, who speaks nothing but ancient Khuzdul because of a wound he took in the Battle of Azanulbizar. Prince Bilbo very nearly refused to have a bodyguard at all, and King Thorin had to argue with him for a very long time, but at last Prince Bilbo gave in because everyone agreed with King Thorin and also the Lady Dis threatened to sit on him and never let him leave Belegost again if he did not accept.

Prince Bilbo says that you are welcome to tell your father of Aragorn, though perhaps not the Men of Dale as of yet, and also that Aragorn does not plan to take his throne for at least another twenty years or so, which may seem a mere eye-blink to your people but is long enough for him and for me!

You write so eloquently of your forests that I can almost see them in my mind, though all the leaves look as though they are carved from emeralds – like the circlet which King Thorin made for Prince Bilbo, which he wore at Kili and Primrose’s wedding, do you remember? When we traveled through the Greenwood I thought it a strange and mysterious place, without the security of stone nor the easy sight-lines of the plains, but your words make it seem a place of great beauty and safety. Perhaps I will be able to visit some day, and see the midsummer festival. I would be very amused to see you running with an egg in a spoon, or climbing a greased pillar! Does not the grease go everywhere?

In the Shire there is an autumn festival – I am sorry you could not stay long enough for it – and one of the games is that they grease a pig and whoever catches it may keep it. There is always much laughter and sometimes the pig escapes completely. Two years ago Dwalin won the pig, and then Ori could not bear to see it slaughtered, but he also could not keep it in Belegost, so that is where the very large pig which lives behind the Gamgee’s smial comes from. Now Dwalin does not enter that contest anymore. Can you imagine a pig running through the halls of Belegost? It would make such a horrid mess!

I must think a while and come up with a good way to describe the forges and the mines of Belegost so that you can see them as clearly as if you were here, just as your descriptions of the Greenwood have brought it alive before me. In the meantime, I wish you luck with your autumn festival and hope to hear from you soon.

Your friend always,

Gimli


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Autumn, and an important question.

_Hisime 2953_

_Dear Gimli,_

I cannot quite manage to imagine Dwalin leaping triumphantly upon a greased pig. The images simply will not come – no more than I can imagine him doing a jig! Clearly there is much more to him than tattoos and making my friend run up and down stairs all day. 

_I have told my father all that you told me of Aragorn, and he wishes me to tell you that when Aragorn takes his throne the elves of the Greenwood will stand by their ancient treaties. Though we are far enough from Gondor that the treaties are more formalities than anything else; still, we will recognize his claim and send ambassadors to his crowning, and perhaps open trade routes if he proves a good king. You may tell him so if you like._

_The head of a bodyguard of three is still the head of a bodyguard, and I know that you will do a marvelous job. Surely Prince Bilbo would trust no one but the Ring-bearer-bearer with his safety! And, perhaps more to the point, I am sure King Thorin is reassured that his consort is in such proven good hands. Is Bifur the one with the axe in his head? I saw him sitting with the dwobbits at the wedding, making toys for them; they seemed to love him well, but I was astonished that anyone had lived through such a terrible wound. If it only rendered him incapable of speaking Westron, then he has escaped far more lightly than I should have ever imagined!_

_But tell me of Kes, who is so good with throwing axes; shall I soon be wishing you luck with your courting, my friend?_

_I wait eagerly for your description of the forges and mines of Belegost, for if I cannot see them and their beauty myself, I will see them through your eyes, and I know they will be beautiful then._

_The autumn festival was very pleasant – I took first place in the blindfolded archery again, and I think I will not compete in it next year – but alas none of the ale was as potent as Gaffer Gamgee’s, and so everyone remained quite sober and retained their senses of propriety. Ah well. One cannot see one’s father and his best warriors making fools of each other every year, I suppose. Though that story still makes the round regularly – well out of my father’s hearing, of course – and not a few of the lower-ranking members of my father’s court have come to me to tell me of their vast amusement at the incident._

_As often as I banged my head on the ceilings in Bag End – lovely smial though it is – I cannot help but think of it fondly, for not only did I discover Gaffer Gamgee’s marvelous moonshine while we stayed there, but the quiet of the nights as we sat behind the smial and watched the moon and stars, and you told me tales of the dwarves of old and the Fall of Khazad-dum and dragons in the Grey Mountains – the silence and the peace are such as it is hard for me to find, here in the midst of my father’s court._

_But I grow maudlin; forgive me, my friend. Until I hear from you again, I remain, as ever,_

_Your friend,_

_Legolas_

 

Afteryule 2954

Dear Legolas,

Me, court _Kes_? Dear Mahal, no! She’s a wonderful woman, very smart and good with her weapons, but no. She does not call to me, as a beloved would, and as I am no noble to marry for profit or alliance, I need not wed unless I find my beloved.

Speaking of Ones – Primrose is pregnant _again_! I shall never grow used to the fertility of hobbits. It is as though they are made of the same good dark earth which grows such wonderful crops for them! Kili is practically walking on air, and keeps breaking off in the middle of sentences to stare at Primrose for a while, until she whacks him on the arm to snap him out of it.

I think I’m getting somewhere with the setting for Lady Galadriel’s hair. The last few tries have not set the horsehair on fire, and though the setting is not quite what it should be yet, I think I know what it will look like eventually. I plan to make a pendant, you see, but one which can be hung on a wall for everyone to admire. So it must look good with the dark stone as well as with the mithril-silver and the crystal of the setting itself.

I have been thinking on how to describe Belegost, and though I cannot do it justice I will do my best. The beauty of Belegost, you see, is not in the main halls, though they are fine and well-decorated, and you have seen the tapestries and the runes and carvings; those are fine and beautiful, yes, but they are not the heart of the mountain.  
If you go a little deeper, where the hobbits do not come because of their bare feet, you come to the forges, and there the metal glows as it does in the deep earth, becoming molten again for a little while. You recall the volcano, behind us as we fled: the molten iron is the same color, flowing like the lava did, and though it is terrible it is beautiful as well, creation and destruction wrapped up together and inseparable. That is where the craftsmen among us find the beauty of the mountain; but for me, though I see the beauty in the molten metal and the deft movements of the smiths, I must go deeper.

For if you go deeper into the mountain, down into the darkness of the mines, where the only light is that you bring with you, or the faint glow of moss and lichen upon the walls, then suddenly after a long while the earth opens up around you, and in the deep caverns on every side the jewels glint and gleam, and the stone has carved itself into lace and filigree so fine that even hobbit maidens could not craft thread into such intricate and delicate forms; and yet the stone is harder than iron, and cannot be broken off. There in the deep places there are rivers, so clear and smooth that one can almost forget they are made of water, and within those rivers even the plain pebbles shine as bright and precious as gems. Now and again there is a vein of gold in the wall, or silver, but the beauty of the deep caverns is such that no one ever mines them, but we polish the gold and gems where they lie in the walls so that the whole cavern is a single work of art, more glorious than any that dwarvish hands could craft.

I do not think that I have done it justice, my beautiful mountain, but I hope I have given you perhaps some little picture of its glories. Write soon!

Your friend,

Gimli


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gimli has good news.

_Sulime 2954_

_Dear Gimli,_

_So dwarves, like Men, wed mostly for love, unless they are nobles? That seems sensible. Elves do not wed except for love, but then, we live so long that there is plenty of time to fall in love and marry even if it has taken a few millennia to get to that point. I could not imagine spending the rest of time with someone I did not love, and elves, like dwarves, wed but the once._

_Congratulate Primrose and Kili for me, please, but I beg you do not mention my utter shock at their fecundity! It is nearly unheard of for an elf to have children less than ten or fifteen years apart – usually the age difference is in the hundreds of years! – and to think of a lass having two children in four years! It is astonishing and wonderful. No wonder hobbits are so cheerful and numerous!_

_I wish you luck with the setting of Lady Galadriel’s hair, and of course you will tell me when you have managed it – perhaps send along a sketch of the final product? I am utterly certain it will be beautiful._

_Speaking of beauty: your description of Belegost is very nearly enough to make me look forward to going down into the bowels of a mountain! Still, I cannot imagine that the weight of all that stone is anything but horribly oppressive. Perhaps this is why dwarves are built so much more sturdily than my people; they must be ready to bear the weight of mountains, while we walk under the sky. I find it very wonderful that the Valar have hidden such beauty deep beneath the earth where only the dwarves go, and also placed such beauty in the forests and the fields and the rolling hills, so that each of the peoples of the Light may have some beauteous thing to look on. Perhaps it is what makes us Light, that we can find and appreciate beauty; for to be sure, the orcs we slew in Mordor did not seem to have much appreciation for anything. Then again, there was very little beauty in Mordor, only ash and dead grass._

_I have not thanked you, I think, for your words to me in Mordor, your reassurance that not all beauty was gone from the world. I do not know that I could have gone on without those words, and so I do thank you, my friend, with all my heart._

_On a more cheerful topic, my father has still not forgiven me for the hobbit ale. I think it is quite unfair, since I did warn him and the warriors about its potency; it is hardly my fault if they did not believe me. Still, I am finding it wise to be on patrol in the forest more often than not, for the warriors do tend to glare at me so, and my father has taken to drinking nothing but clear springwater and glowering at it. He used to love wine very well, but now apparently he cannot stand any hint of alcohol. Ah well. It was the funniest thing I have seen in decades, and quite worth the glowering._

_Write soon!_

_Your friend,_

_Legolas_

   
Thrimidge 2954

Dear Legolas,

I have such wonderful news! I have at last managed to place the Lady Galadriel’s hair in a setting which does it full justice. It hangs now upon the wall of my rooms, where I can look upon it often; and even King Thorin, who hates elves so, had to admit that it was more beautiful than any jewel in Belegost. Prince Bilbo told me it was wondrous craftsmanship and ought to count as my Masterpiece in the forges, and my father agreed as well, so now I am accounted a full Master of my craft as well as my axe!

Now that I have the knack of it, my friend, I beg you to send me a lock of your hair, for I would fain set it as I have the Lady Galadriel’s. I am sure it will be equally as beautiful, though perhaps I will place it in a locket rather than a wall decoration. Please?

Kili and Primrose both thank you for your congratulations, and Kili went off into reminiscences of our Quest until Primrose had to stuff a biscuit into his mouth to make him be quiet. Apparently Kili is a little bored in Belegost now that he has had a taste of the wide world! Prince Bilbo is thinking of sending him off to the garrison once the new baby has been born and reached its six months, so he can go on patrols and hunt without bothering anyone.

You need not thank me for my words in Mordor; I was also terribly dismayed by the view of that dark place and in truth, speaking to you was equally helpful to me. Perhaps you are correct that the races of the Light are those which can perceive beauty. Certainly it was only the memory of the beauty of the world, and my determination to protect Prince Bilbo, which kept me sane through that horrid journey. I hope the explosion of the volcano filled the whole horrible valley up so that no dark power might ever again inhabit it.

I cannot find it in me to feel sorry for your father and his warriors, though to have lost the taste for wine and ale is an awful fate! But they should have trusted your word and your remembrances, and if they had sent word to Belegost we should all have assured them that hobbit moonshine is a most potent and wonderful beverage, to make strong dwarves weak and weak dwarves strong and Dwalin son of Fundin dance jigs. Do you know, I do not think King Thorin has ever tried the stuff; I wonder what it would do to him?

There was certainly an abundance of it at the fair last month. Prince Bilbo went down to meet with the Thains, so of course Kes and Bifur and I all went with him, but he insisted that he didn’t need bodyguards in the Shire of all places, so we went off to enjoy the fair. Bifur won a kitten which sits on his shoulder all the time now, and Kes won an enormous bumbleberry pie in the throwing-knives contest, though she used her axes. I got cornered by that pack of children that Gaffer Gamgee’s eldest leads, and they sat on me and braided flowers into my beard until I looked like a bouquet. Prince Bilbo laughed all the way back to Belegost.

Hope your summer festival is just as much fun as the Shire’s spring fair,

Your friend,

Gimli


	11. Chapter 11

_Cermie 2954_

_Dear Gimli,_

_I am very glad that you have at last managed to set Lady Galadriel’s hair, and I am utterly certain that it is as beautiful as anything I have ever seen._

_Bifur has a kitten? That is…absolutely and terrifyingly adorable. Hobbits seem to have that effect, have you noticed? Everything around them becomes softer and friendlier, and then when it is necessary, it turns out that that softness and friendliness have been as the velvet glove over an iron hand, and the wrath of the hobbits is upon you._

_I find myself empathizing rather with Kili. It is not that the Greenwood is boring – it is my beloved home, and I have rarely been as happy and relaxed as I am under its broad branches, and then only when I am with you – but now that the spiders are routed forever and the Necromancer has left his foul haunts, there is little enough to fear or fight within the bounds of the forest. This is a good thing, I do not doubt it, and I am glad for the children and the maidens who dance fearless among the trees, but I find myself remembering our Quest and wondering what further adventures might await beyond these trees._

_I have spent some little time thinking of King Thorin’s possible responses to hobbit ale, and while I confess that many of the images have been most amusing, I cannot actually come to any conclusion on the probable actions of a drunken dwarven King. This is probably just as well, since if he were to be, for instance, a maudlin and weepy drunk, it would be far too tempting to get him and my father both utterly intoxicated and put them in the same place to see what would happen. And then I suspect Prince Bilbo would be forced to kill me, which would be a terrible tragedy._

_I am babbling._

_I find that I cannot quite think of anything more to say, since I have been thinking so much on your request for a lock of my hair. Among the elves of the Greenwood, to wear a locket made with someone’s hair is a declaration of great love. I must ask, therefore: is it the same with the dwarves of Belegost? Would such a locket be a sign between lovers?_

_I have enclosed a lock of my hair._

_Your friend always,_

_Legolas_

   
Halimath 2954

Dear Legolas,

Mahal be my witness, I had not realized before you wrote to me in such plain terms how deep my feelings run for you. You are quite correct: among the dwarves of Belegost, and among the hobbits of the Shire, a locket with another’s hair is a lover’s token.

You are as precious to me as all the gems of Belegost and all the mithril of Moria, and I thank you a thousand times for your patience with my foolishness – for how should I have asked for a lover’s token if it were not that I was in love? And so I am, and so I have been I think these several years past, and only my own blindness has kept me from seeing it.

I am not skilled with words, my friend, nor with matters of the heart; I did not know my own mind until you wrote to me, and yet now in hindsight I can see my love for you in our letters, in our conversations in the Shire, in my wish for a lock of your hair that we might never be truly parted.

I have made up two lockets, each identical to the other, and enclosed one with this letter. Within the lockets is our hair, braided together. I hope you will not find this too forward of me; the locket I have kept I am wearing even now, close to my skin where I shall never lose it.

I, too, find I cannot think of aught else to say while I hope for your reply, so I beg you forgive that my letter is too short, and let the locket make up for it.

With all my love I yet remain,

Your friend,

Gimli


	12. Chapter 12

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> All the fluff.

_Hisime 2954_

_My dearest Gimli,_

_The locket is the most beautiful thing I think I have ever seen, and I wear it now against my heart where it shall never be removed so long as I shall live._

_You say you are not good with words, and yet your letters to me, and especially this last, have been more beautiful and more precious than I can describe. I should say that you are as much a master of this craft as of smithing, and I have against my heart the evidence of your smithcraft._

_I do not know that I have ever felt such joy as I did when I read your letter and learned that you returned my love; and though I would have been content to remain your friend and nothing more for all time, yet it is a relief and a blessing to me to know that you are in truth the other half of my heart._

_There is only one flaw in my great happiness, and that is that my honored father is furious at my choice; but as I have told him many times already, an elf loves but once and the one he loves is his beloved forever, be that one Man or dwarf or hobbit or elf lad or lass, and I have made my choice and will never regret it. For where else should I find one so brave, and loyal, and skilled with words and blades and gems in equal measure?_

_Perhaps I would never have met you had not we gone a-Questing to destroy the Ring; and had I never met you, I am quite sure I should never have met another being of any race who would suit me as perfectly, and fill my heart as gloriously, as does Gimli son of Gloin._

_I have quite disconcerted several of my friends by being unable to stop smiling these past few days since I received your letter and the locket._

_I know it may well be hard for us to find a way to live together, as I fervently hope we will someday be able to do; but I have faith that the fate which could stand against Gimli of Belegost and Legolas of the Greenwood has not yet been dreamt of. Together we may do anything we set our minds to, I am certain of it. Perhaps we will go south, to the caverns of the White Mountains and the forest of Fangorn, and there dwell half a year each beneath the mountains and beneath the trees! For if an elf and a dwarf can find true happiness with each other, what else may not be possible?_

_I send you all my love, and I remain,_

_Your friend always,_

_Legolas_  
 

Afteryule 2955

My dearest Legolas,

I am so glad to read your words and to think of the locket lying against your heart. It is of great comfort to me to think that across the miles which separate us, yet our braided hair connects our thoughts.

I am rather in need of comfort, as my father is, as you surmised, quite furious. He thinks you have bewitched me somehow – do not ask me how – and can barely speak for ranting, but stomps up and down and flings his hands in the air and bewails our ancestors for letting such a thing befall our line. I have reminded him that he has another son yet to carry on our lineage, but it does not seem to help.

On the other hand, Prince Bilbo seems to be very glad that we have realized our love for each other. I quote, “Oh, finally! I thought I was going to have to stuff you in a sack and ship you to the Greenwood!”

Then King Thorin began making choking noises and I thought it wise to leave. But it is good to know that someone supports us!

Bifur and Kes have both decided that they don’t care who I’m in love with so long as I’m still loyal to Prince Bilbo, so that’s alright. Bifur has named his kitten Mazam, the Beast, and it is the fluffiest thing I have ever seen and rarely leaves his shoulder. Kes liked the pie so much that she has taken on a part-time apprenticeship with Rosemary, the chief baker of Belegost, and is learning to bake. Her father, who is the head of the kitchens, is very proud. They are good friends and I am glad to have them.

I hope your father is not too unpleasant. You told me some months back that elves marry only for love, so he cannot have expected you to make a political alliance; but I know that Erebor and the Greenwood do not have the best political relationship, and so my beard is probably a fault in his eyes.

I like your plan of going south; perhaps we could find some place where the mountain is covered with forest, and build a home half-in and half-out of the earth, so that you could walk under your trees whenever you pleased, and I could go down into the deep places whenever I pleased, and we could meet in the middle every evening and sit and talk in the twilight as we did in the Shire.

Until we build ourselves such a place, I will write as often as I may.

I send all my love to you, my dearest friend.

Yours always,

Gimli


	13. Chapter 13

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Old friends and new.

_Sulime 2955_

_Dearest Gimli,_

_I must admit to vast amusement at Prince Bilbo’s reaction. I think it would have been quite pleasant to receive a dwarf in a sack, though admittedly you probably would not have enjoyed the journey!_

_I am also amused at the idea of a kitten named the Beast. Cats can, it is true, be quite dangerous creatures, but a shoulder kitten is probably not the most dangerous specimen of the species. Nevertheless, I shall take great care to be polite to the animal should I ever encounter Bifur._

_I am dreadfully sorry about your father’s fury, though I know there is nothing I can do which would alleviate it, except perhaps to turn into a dwarf, and that alas is a magic I do not think anyone in Middle-Earth could cast. Also I fear I would be quite bad at being a dwarf, and I cannot quite imagine myself with a beard, so that is no help at all._

_Your idea of a half-underground kingdom is a wonderful one. The best of both worlds, really, and without my having to live underground or you having to put up with forests, either of which would probably not end well. I have visions of you attempting to mine tree roots after too long under the open sky, or myself going skipping through tunnels singing about little birds and flowers and driving every dwarf within miles to flee the mines._

_My father and the older warriors, those who got so drunk on hobbit moonshine, are the ones who disapprove most heartily of my choice of beloved. There are those among the younger elves of the Greenwood, however, those who fought the spiders with me and shot beside me at the festivals, who do not think that loving a dwarf is such a terrible idea. They are the ones who deal most often with Dale, and thence on occasion with the dwarves of Erebor – the younger dwarves, who still leave their mountain, for Erebor has become ever more isolationist since King Thorin and his people left. They tell me there is much to admire in Men and dwarves, and if they do not applaud my choice they do not disapprove either._

_It reassures me greatly that there are those among my people, and among yours, who do not recoil at the very thought of our love; and I am sure that as the years go by, even as the dwobbits have become commonplace where at first they were an astonishing idea, our relationship, too, will become a matter of unworrisome fact. Though it may take my father, and yours, a while to come to terms with it!_

_However long our fathers rage and rant, though, do know that I shall love you as long as I shall live and after, and I wait hopefully for the day when we shall meet again, and for the day when we shall find a way to live together._

_Until then, I remain always,_

_Yours,_

_Legolas_  
 

Thrimidge 2955

Dearest Legolas,

I cannot imagine you as a dwarf. I simply cannot. You would look utterly wrong with a beard, and I cannot see you being content beneath a mountain. Legolas without his bow and his trees is not Legolas. In equal measure, I think I would be a very bad elf.

…Though I do thank you for the thought. It would, it is true, be easier if we were of one race. But as it is, I love you for who you are, Legolas of the Greenwood, and I would not trade you for Durin the Deathless if he reincarnated just to court me.

I am glad we both have friends who will support us even if they do not quite understand. I confess I had rather thought all elves thought the same way – with your own self an unlikely and much-appreciated exception – and now I learn that there are those who disagree with your father’s isolationism. I suppose it is like the way some of the dwarves who came to Belegost were very happy when we learned we could marry hobbits and have children with them, and some dwarves thought that dwobbits were an abomination in the sight of Mahal and went off to Moria. Though it grieves the King, I admit I cannot be too sorry that those dwarves died when the Balrog came, for they were unkind to the hobbits and dwobbits of Belegost, and I am quite sure that hobbits are the best thing which has ever happened to my people.

Primrose’s baby has been born, speaking of dwobbits, and she and Kili have named him Thollin. King Thorin goes around looking proud and embarrassed by turns, and Prince Bilbo teases him mercilessly, which is only payback for how much the King teased him when they named their first son Billin, anyhow!

On another note, I have been working in the forges when I am not guarding Prince Bilbo – really it is an easy job: two of us stand behind the thrones while the Prince and King Thorin make judgments and hear petitions in the morning, and if Prince Bilbo leaves the mountain or goes down into the mines we accompany him, but we get a day off every three, which is quite pleasant – and I have made these hair ornaments for you. I hope you like them. I tried to make sure the sapphires would be the same color as your eyes, and I hope I have succeeded.

I miss you desperately, but I have hope that we will figure something out between us. As you say, the enemy which can stand against us both has not yet been born, and I shall stand by you until the end of my days.

Until then and after, I remain,

Yours,

Gimli


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gifts and jokes.

_Cermie 2955_

_Dearest Gimli,_

_What beautiful ornaments! I am wearing them as I write this. Many of my friends have complimented me on their elegance and the match between the sapphires and my eyes, and I take great pleasure in boasting of your skill._

_I myself have no such skill in smithcraft, but I have enclosed with this letter beads for your beard made of the wood of the trees of my forest. They are oak and juniper, for strength and love; like your hobbits, we give meanings to each tree and flower. I am working on beads of apple wood and yew, for love and victory, in the hopes that they will bring us luck in finding a way to live together. I hope you like them!_

_Primrose named the baby Thollin? Oh, I wish I could have seen King Thorin’s face! Kili must be so very proud; two strong sons in less than five years is a great feat for dwarves, I understand, and is nearly unheard of among elves – the only ones I can think of are Lord Elrond’s sons Elladan and Elrohir, who are twins. Please congratulate Primrose for me and tell her that strong children are a blessing indeed._

_I had not realized that there were dwarves who did not like the hobbits and dwobbits of Belegost. Honestly, I cannot quite understand not liking hobbits. They are such marvelous people! (And make such marvelous moonshine!) Gentle and kind, more interested in food and family than gold or conquest, and yet with a core of such steel that no blade could match it. I am sure that only a hobbit could have done as Prince Bilbo did, and given up the Ring without a second thought – though I feared it, I do not know that I could have destroyed it outright. And Primrose Axe-Maid, taking up her beloved’s weapon in a berserk rage to defend a city not her own; and the hobbits who fought in the Battle of the Shire. A wonderful people. It baffles me that anyone could dislike them enough to leave Belegost behind._

_I am spending more time with the younger elves who do not look at me as though I have gone mad. They are all very friendly and I am glad to have them; it makes a nice change from standing beside my father’s throne as he glowers at everyone. Really, between the moonshine and falling in love with you, I do not know that he will stop glowering for the next few decades. It’s very frustrating. Still, it is good to walk through the woods with friends who only laugh at me when I grow lost in thoughts of you, even if they do tease rather. One of them, Lariel, presented me the other day with a false beard woven of squirrels’ fur. I will let you imagine the hilarity which followed for yourself._

_I, too, miss you dreadfully, but someday – and may that day be soon! – I am quite sure we will be together again._

_Until then, I am, as always,_

_Yours,_

_Legolas_

   
Halimath 2955

Dearest Legolas,

What beautiful beads you have sent me! I have braided them into my hair, though I hope that at some point in the future I shall sit beside you while you braid beads into my hair, and I into yours. It would please me greatly to teach you some of the braids which have been passed down in my family since the days of Durin.

Prince Bilbo says the Sindarin words which you carved into the beads are those for love and loyalty and strength and honor. I am very proud to wear them, and to think on you whenever I see them out of the corner of my eye. Not that I need any help to think of you every few minutes! Kes laughs at me and says that even if I had not said anything, she could tell I was lovesick by the faraway look in my eyes whenever I am not on duty.

I, too, am quite baffled at the idea of not liking hobbits. But then, I am a dwarf of Belegost, and proud to be so; and without hobbits, Belegost would not exist, so then I owe them my home, and without hobbits there would be no dwobbits, so then I owe them the future of my people. This is of course in addition to Prince Bilbo being the best liege-lord I could desire.

Ori has recently finished the full Saga of Bilbo Ring-Bearer, and he sang it at dinner a few nights ago. I thought Prince Bilbo might burst into flames with his blushes, but it’s quite a good song, though I’m not sure if I have the skill to translate it for you – it’s in Khuzdul, of course, which I do not think you know. I would ask Prince Bilbo to help me, but, well…

I have been snickering for days at the idea of you with a beard made of squirrels’ tails. It would not suit you at all, I do not think; you might perhaps look like a particularly strange Man, but you would not look like a dwarf, and in any case such a thing would doubtless be scratchy and tickly and unpleasant. A very funny image, though.

The thought of you with my ornaments in your hair and my locket about your neck is a much more pleasant one. Do you ever wear ear-adornments, or bracelets, or circlets, or rings? For it is the way of dwarven lovers to make beautiful things for their beloveds, and I would fain have you adorned entirely in the work of my hands, in mithril and silver and sapphires to complement your fair skin and lovely hair, emeralds for the leaves of your beloved trees and opals and diamonds set in gold.

I miss you, and I love you. I will keep thinking on how we might be able to find a way to live together – nothing is occurring to me just yet, but between the two of us we will come up with something, and Prince Bilbo is willing to help also.

I remain, as always,

Yours,

Gimli


	15. Chapter 15

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gifts go both ways.

_Hisime 2955_

_Dearest Gimli,_

_I should like to hear the Saga of Bilbo Ring-Bearer someday, either in its original Khuzdul or in a translation. Ori is a skillful scribe, I believe, and therefore I am sure the tale is well-told. Though I do admit I would be unable to understand the Khuzdul without a dictionary and quite a lot of help! I know a few words from my interactions with the people of Erebor, but those tend to be such simple things as please and thank you, gold and silver. (Of course I have learnt the dwarvish word for gold – it was the first one I was taught!)_

_I am fond of necklaces, and rings if they are not too bulky, but bracelets do tend to get in the way of my archery, and my father would take it ill if any but he were to wear a circlet in the Greenwood. I would be proud and glad to wear anything you make for me, my love, both because it is from you and because your skill in smithing is wonderful indeed. The ornaments you have already made for me are the envy of everyone who sees them, as delicate and beautiful as the first flowers of spring and yet as strong as steel. I adore them._

_I should be glad to teach you Sindarin, should you be interested in learning, though I would have to begin by sending you a few dictionaries, since after all it is easier to teach a language in person than through letters. If you would like me to send along some dictionaries and perhaps some simple texts, I would be more than glad to do it, and you would of course be welcome to share them with Ori, who doubtless desires all books for his library. Certainly the scribes who run the Greenwood’s library are rather terrifying in their pursuit of new books!_

_I do not think you would do well draped in silks, as is the custom of the elves; certainly I have a hard time imagining that they could suit you better than leather and mail do, or that any delicate fan could look so natural in your hands as your broad axe. But I do not want an elf maiden, draped in silks and lounging appealingly on cushions, but my own solid, bearded, mountain-strong dwarf in his leathers and armor. There is a weaver who makes quite beautiful cloth, thick heavy stuff dyed in colors as deep as jewels and softer than silk; I think I will commission her to make you a cloak of it, and carve the clasp myself. A deep green, perhaps, to go well both with your fine beard and my trees; or would you prefer some other color?_

_I will be dancing in the Midwinter Festival this year – I have quite regained my old skill – and I wonder what Belegost looks like in the fall? Here the trees are the colors of flames, red and orange and yellow, and the air is crisp and lovely. I have a window in my rooms, whence I may watch the leaves change, and for many days now I have found myself each morning sitting in the window-seat, wishing I had you beside me to keep me warm and talk with me._

_I will sit beside you once again, and when I do I will not leave you until the end of our days._

_I send you all my love, and all my hope that we shall soon be joined again._

_Yours,_

_Legolas_

   
Afteryule 2956

Dearest Legolas,

If bracelets and circlets will not please you, I will not make them, but rings and necklaces and hair ornaments I will certainly make, as delicate as spring flowers, if they please you so! I shall set about it at once; though I do not think I will cease to make beautiful things for you as long as I shall live. If you wish to send me a cloak, I will certainly not complain in the slightest; green will remind me of you, and your love for the trees.

I have sent along a dictionary of Khuzdul, though I beg you not to show it to your librarians or any of your friends. We are not supposed to let non-dwarves learn Khuzdul, though that rule has been relaxed a little because of the hobbits and dwobbits of Belegost, but if King Thorin ever got wind of the fact I have given an elf the key to our sacred language he would be very wroth with me. Still, if Prince Bilbo can be taught Khuzdul because he is King Thorin’s beloved, then you can be taught it too; it is only fair!

I should be glad to attempt to learn Sindarin, though I have no skill in languages that I know of; still, since I plan to spend the rest of my years beside you, that should be enough time to learn! And you are quite correct that Ori would be glad of books from any source at all. He has quite scoured the Shire, actually, and gotten copies of every book in Tuckborough. Prince Bilbo even gave him most of the library in Bag End. Ori says he is determined that Belegost’s library will be a monument to the ages.

I should like to see you dance, my love, one of these days. I am sure you are beautiful in the dance, as you are in battle. I am equally sure that elven and dwarven dances are very different, even as the hobbits have their jigs which no dwarf may hope to match; though I am not likely to be able to dance as elves do, I should certainly be glad to watch you for as long as you cared to dance. You mentioned fans; are there particular kinds of jewelry which are common to dancers, which I could make for you?

I look forward eagerly to the day when I might sit beside you, either at a window or at table, and even more to the day when, I hope, I shall have your warmth to hold during the cold nights. More than anything, however, I miss being able to speak with you. Both on the Quest and in the Shire, I cherished our conversations, and though these letters give me hope and keep me from despair, still they are not the same as hearing your voice.

I should not end on such a maudlin, note so I will end instead with a greeting from Gamli, who sends you a broad if slightly toothless smile and the wish that your hair shall ever be pretty.

I, too, wish for your hair to remain as beautiful as the rest of you. Be safe and warm this winter, dearest of friends.

I remain, as always,

Yours,

Gimli


	16. Chapter 16

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Very important news.

_Sulime 2956_

_Dearest Gimli,_

_I have strange and wondrous news for you, which is why this letter comes carried by eagle and not by caravan. Please give the eagle a sheep in payment. He is of the Eagles of Manwe, subject to Gwaihir Windlord who is Gandalf’s great friend._

_My news is this: envoys from Erebor have been granted passage through the Greenwood on their way to Belegost. No dwarves of Erebor have come so far from their mountain since Thrain left, and the envoys number nearly sixty! Even those who come to Dale are few and far between, and young, and among the heads of the envoys are some of the great nobles of King Frerin’s court. I do not know what has sent them on this mission, but I hope that with fore-warning, King Thorin and Prince Bilbo will be able to prepare. Be on your guard, my friend; I do not know that Erebor is a friend to anyone these days. The dwarves who come to Dale murmur sometimes, when they think we cannot hear, of gold-sickness as the late Thror had, but stronger and more bitter. I know you will guard Prince Bilbo with your life, but oh! I hope it does not come to that. Be safe, if it is at all possible, my love._

_I will send you dictionaries in Sindarin as soon as another caravan comes through – I did not quite dare to send anything with the envoys! – as I did not wish to burden the eagle unduly. And someday I shall be glad to dance for you, and to sit beside you, and to lie warm in your arms, and I shall remain by your side for as long as we both shall live. Elves love but the once, you know, and you are mine, my only love now and forever. I could not have found a better through I searched a thousand years, my love, for there is no other in the world, nor ever has been nor will be, who is as perfect for me as you are._

_The eagle grows restless and I must send this quickly. Be safe, my heart; write soon, I beg you._

_Yours always,_

_Legolas_  
 

Thrimidge 2956

Dearest Legolas,

A thousand thanks, from myself, from Prince Bilbo, and even from King Thorin, who has unbent far enough to say that such information as you sent us is without price. We had ample time to prepare for the envoys, to alert the Shire, and to send word to the garrison; and now the envoys have arrived, and I have the most wonderful news!

Prince Bilbo will be going to Erebor, to meet with King Frerin, and so of course I will be going with him, and Prince Bilbo promises we can stop for a few days in the Greenwood that I might have time with you! We should be there in a month or so. I hope you are amused that I managed to bribe your eagle friend to stay long enough that I could send this back with him, though it has cost me several sheep. The eagle is a very messy eater, too. It’s rather disturbing to watch.

Prince Bilbo says I should tell you who is going to be descending on your forest, so here goes: Prince Bilbo, with me and Kes and Bifur as his bodyguard; Lady Dis, who refuses to let Prince Bilbo go anywhere interesting without her; Gilraen’s son Aragorn, and Bofur son of Frar who is Aragorn’s close companion. This along with the ambassadors from Erebor, who number six. The rest of the Ereboreans came to emigrate! We are all rather excited and flustered.

I will see you soon, my love, as soon as may be. I can hardly wait to see you again; I shall be all nerves until we reach the Greenwood. Perhaps I shall spar with Bifur every morning to work out the jitters; he is very fast and unpredictable.

I will send this now with your eagle friend, and hope to see you as soon as is physically possible.

Yours always,

Gimli

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much for reading. Thanks also to Best Beloved for beta-ing and helping brainstorm. There WILL be more Coats & Customs, but not for a while: I will be busy for the rest of the month and most of June with my upcoming wedding! There might be a few one-shot fics between now and the end of June, but the long fics – Book 3, tentatively titled Meanwhile in Erebor; Aragorn’s Tale; and Legolas and Gimli Part 2 – will resume after June.
> 
> Thank you again for the kudos and the comments, which make my day every day.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [[Podfic] Letters of Note - A Coats & Customs Interlude](https://archiveofourown.org/works/3251252) by [nickelsissocool](https://archiveofourown.org/users/nickelsissocool/pseuds/nickelsissocool)




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